Francesco Friedrich has been unbeaten at the 2-man bobsleigh world championships since 2013, but now the dominator has suffered a rare defeat - and the end of two impressive series. Johannes Lochner punishes Friedrich's mistakes coldly.
After eight years of trying, Johannes Lochner has finally celebrated his big victory against Francesco Friedrich and is now world champion in the two-man bobsleigh for the first time. The 32-year-old won the race in the small sled at the World Championships in St. Moritz, while Friedrich took silver and secured the double victory for the German association. The Swiss Michael Vogt finished third on his home track, a hundredth of a second behind the record world champion.
It was a sovereign victory, in the end Lochner and Friedrich separated by 0.49 seconds. The Saxon started the race ailing, having suffered an adductor injury shortly before the turn of the year. At the start, he was not as dominant as usual with his brakeman Alexander Schüller - but Friedrich lost the race on the track due to incorrect rides.
For Friedrich, two historical series ended in St. Moritz of all places. Seven times in a row he had won the World Championship title in twos, for the first time exactly ten years ago on the Swiss natural ice rink. His dominance also extended to the foursome - and also to the Olympics: since 2017 he was unbeaten in all major events.
Lochner has been something of a permanent second for all these years. Whether at the World Cup or the Olympics, in the large or small sled, he was never able to defeat Friedrich at the highlights of the season - not even when he was at the top: In 2017, at Lochner's only world title in a foursome, Friedrich also won gold at the same time.
This weekend in St. Moritz, Lochner, who finished second four times in the two-man bobsleigh behind Friedrich, presented himself in world champion form. With pushman Georg Fleischhauer, he was convincing at the start and also showed the necessary calmness on the steering cables. Despite his home advantage, local hero Vogt (0.50) was only faster in the first run. Christoph Hafer and brakeman Matthias Sommer just missed the podium as fourth (0.86).
